It wasn’t the luck of the Irish nor a case of third time lucky.In fact, there was no luck whatsoever that could be associated with Padraig Harrington’s Grand Slam of Golf victory at Port Royal.It was a culmination of two terrific rounds of golf a five-under 66 on Tuesday followed by a four-under 67 yesterday.And while the final cards showed a one-shot win over US Open champion Webb Simpson, it was far more comfortable than the scores suggest.Harrington led for the last 27 holes of the tournament and even a bogey on the final hole his only one of the day and just his third over the 36 holes couldn’t take the gloss off a polished all-round performance.The Irishman had lost in play-offs when he last played in the Grand Slam at Mid-Ocean Club, first to Angel Cabrera in 2007 and then to Jim Furyk in 2008.This time it was a different story as he experienced the perfectly manicured fairways of Port Royal for the first time.Simpson made a charge yesterday, carding 65 and finishing just one shot behind Harrington on 134. His six-under score tied the best round since the Slam moved to the Southampton course in 2009.First round early leader Bubba Watson collapsed on the inward nine yesterday as he recorded an even par 71 for a final total of 139 three under par.Keegan Bradley recovered from a first-day 72 to shoot 67 and match Watson at three under.Harrington picked up $600,000 for his efforts. Simpson pocketed $300,000 and Watson and Bradley won $225,000 each.A last-minute replacement for the injured Ernie Els, Harrington only got the news as he was practising his putting outside his home in Dublin, preparing for a trip to China.But he said he had no hesitation accepting the invitation, despite he had been third choice behind Graeme McDowell and Tiger Woods who had other commitments in the Far East.“Coming to Bermuda was always the right decision, no matter what,” said the three-time major winner.“It’s a fantastic tournament. It’s an enjoyable tournament. Even if I’d finished last I’d be confident I made the right decision.“It was unfinished business. Having lost in two play-offs, it was great to come back and win.“I haven’t won for a while. It’s nice to do it here.”One of the highlights of the day was an eagle by Bradley on the par-four 14th where his 129-yard approach spun back on the green into the hole. But he was never a threat to the eventual winner, despite his round yesterday being five shots better than his opening 72.There were more dramatics on the next hole where Watson’s drive crashed into a tree to the right of the fairway and stayed there, stuck between two branches.He had to take a penalty drop, salvaged bogey but it dented any slim hopes he had of putting pressure on Harrington. Those hopes disappeared entirely on the 16th where he sliced his tee shot out to sea and took double bogey.For the second day, perfect weather greeted the four players with only a slight breeze on the last few holes.That was demonstrated by the fact that by the 13th hole only three bogeys had been recorded against 17 birdies.A few more bogeys followed but down the stretch it was a two-horse race between Harrington and Simpson who moved within two shots after a birdie at the 14th.And it could have got closer had Simpson sunk a 12-foot eagle putt on the 17th. But he grazed the cup and left Harrington with a two-shot advantage heading up the final hole.The Irishman drove to the right, near to the 14th tee, but arrowed his approach near to the green and knowing he had two putts to win he did exactly that.“It’s very important to win,” said Harrington. “There’s no doubt about it. And the feelings I had out there are the exact same feelings you would have on a Sunday (at any other tournament).“I knew I need to make some birdies to move forward. It’s exactly like any Sunday. You know you don’t want to mess up and yet you still have to play some good golf.“Definitely out there at times I had to remind myself not to be too cautious and at times I had to try to be aggressive and try to make the birdies. You can’t wait for other guys to make mistakes. You have to go for it”.Harrington made his intentions known at the par-three eighth hole where he held a one-shot lead over Simpson.As the three Americans and their caddies gazed down at the turquoise water below, Harrington drained a 35-foot putt.“I’m doing my work and reading the putt and the three boys and their caddies are all discussing the water and looking out there . . . and I felt very lonely,” he joked.“I kept telling myself, right, come on, do your job, focus here. Like anything else, you try and do it and put thoughts out of your mind. So I holed the putt and I thought, well, now I can go and enjoy the ocean, and went and stood and had a look and took it all in.“You do want to take things like that in on the golf course but at times you have to be focused and not get distracted.”A succession of birdies followed on the 11th, 12th and 13th, taking his score to 10-under and from then on it was crystal clear the trophy would soon be making its way across the Irish Sea.* For many more pictures see the photo gallery section on www.royalgazette.com